


Stargazing indoors

by deathbyOTPin123



Category: Adam (2009), Charlie Countryman (2013), Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Museums, Sweet, exhibition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-27 06:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12075741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathbyOTPin123/pseuds/deathbyOTPin123
Summary: “Would you like to stargaze with me, Adam?” he teased the younger man. Adam’s lips slowly spread into a smile and he nodded, eyes fixed on Nigel’s shoes.“Yes”, he replied and remained standing at the entrance of the room.-----Nigel takes Adam to an exhibition about an inventor that loved looking at the stars.





	Stargazing indoors

Couple of months ago, an interactive exhibition about some inventor was opened. Over the time, Nigel got sick of hearing the people gush about it, asking if he saw it yet, followed by “oh, I don’t want to spoil it for you but it’s awesome”. He wasn’t the type to visit galleries and exhibitions. It was one of the many reason’s his ex left him. For him, it didn’t fit in with his lifestyle of a bartender on parole. His friends weren’t much different either, except a small group of good people he befriended lately. Yet, the exhibition seemed to be interesting enough to draw in people from different walks of life.  


His phone chimed, while he was sitting on a sofa at a friend’s house. The group chat, once more, exploded with the messages about the fucking exhibition about the fucking Michael Pupin. The name was engraved in his mind by now. 

Nigel was done. He blocked the group notifications, turned to his friend in annoyance, and in the spur of the moment popped the question.

“Wanna go to an exhibition?” As it would happen, the friend beside him was Adam Raki. Chewing on a mouthful of mac’n’cheese.

Not that long ago, he admitted to himself he wanted more than a friendship. If it were any other person, Nigel would have made a move, all be damned. But, Adam was different. Not just because of Asperger’s. Their friendship was too precious to him. It was honest, free of all the usual bullshit typical people brought into any kind of relationship. He decided ignoring his desires was a better choice than risking and losing it all.  


They met in town, after Adam’s work and went to the gallery together. By now, the exhibition was days before closing, so there weren’t that many people visiting. The beginning was nothing spectacular. Description of the inventor’s early life, accompanied by certain items from his youth displayed in showcases. A cow’s moo could be heard at one point, but that was the only oddity. 

Mihajlo Pupin, or as American’s called him - Michael Pupin, was a Serbian inventor, born in a small village, whose mother believed in his potential for achieving great things and sent her son to the city to get education. From there, he quickly advanced, moving through Europe and finally to America where he first attended and later lectured at a university, Nigel gathered from the introductory texts.

Nigel was bored as the walls were filled with inventor’s biography and Adam stopped by each of the written paragraphs, intent on reading and finding out more. He noticed a small platform in the center of the large room they were in, two black shoe prints glued to it, beckoning a person to stand on that spot. He took the place.

A loud ship horn echoed off the walls accompanied by sounds of seagulls and waves crashing on the shore. It startled Adam, and Nigel swore under his breath. This was not his intention. He quickly got to younger man’s side, ready to react if needed, not entirely sure how or if it would be necessary.

He was inexperienced as Adam was the first and only person with Asperger’s he knew. He saw him react in stress just a couple of times, but Beth or another friend of his was there in each occasion, so the pressure wasn’t on Nigel. If it were anyone else, he would probably just make fun of them for getting surprised.

Luckily for him, Adam focused on the display in front of them. On the wall, a view of the Statue of Liberty was projected as the calm voice of the narrator filled the room. It spoke about the inventor’s journey and arrival to America briefly, then turned off. 

Nigel let out a breath, he didn’t realise he was holding, grateful everything worked out fine. They continued through the exhibition. After more of the same, items from life displayed and story told, they got onto a balcony with large electrical coils displayed on the wall. The balcony overlooked a set up scene with cable posts put up for show, and a sky projected behind them.

A telephone rang. Scratch that. A very old telephone rang. Like in the old movies Nigel used to watch with his family. It turned out that the telephone that was ringing was mounted on the wall to their left, just where the wall ended and the set began. It was an old, large model, as seen in the movies about the end of the 19th century, where one would place the handset to their ear and speak into the mouthpiece in the center of the phone. It must have been a part of the display, triggered by the motion sensors, like the boat scene.

“You should pick it up”, he joked at Adam.

“Why would I do that? It’s not for me. That’s not my phone. And I don’t like phone conversations. They’re difficult for me.” Nigel sighed at the oncoming rant. “Should we get someone from the gallery? Do you think it’s for them? Although, I’m not sure why they would place a phone here, it’ quite inconvenient. It should be placed in their office. But they probably have another one there that they can answer.” Somewhere in the middle of the talk, the phone stopped ringing. 

“I think it’s part of the exhibition, well, the interactive part of it. I remember now one of my friends mentioned it briefly.” Nigel supplied.

“Oh”, came the soft reply. Nigel crowded Adam to make him stand close to the telephone. Even to himself it seemed like a shitty move instead of just asking him to move over there, but this was Nigel. He was a shitty person, that got out of jail not a full year ago. He wanted to change for Adam and other new good people he met, but it would take time. 

Besides, he just wanted to try and get Adam to have fun and participate instead of just reading the boring blocks of text, he reasoned with himself.

“I think it’s triggered by someone passing by. I can go back a few steps and maybe get it to ring again. And you can answer it.” He smiled and was met with Adam’s confused “Why?”.

“It could be fun.” He said as he stepped away, with a smile. As expected, the phone started ringing again. He motioned for Adam to pick it up. Seeing the young man stand with his hands at his sides, staring at the offending phone, he picked up the handset himself and placed it between them so they both could hear. 

“Hello?” Nigel joked into the mouthpiece. The voice on the other side, the narrator, greeted them and briefly explained the significance of Pupin’s discovery for the improvement of telephone networks. When the recording stopped, Nigel gestured for Adam to say something into the phone. The young man leaned forward and spoke after a brief thought.

“Uhmm… T-thank you?” The words soon appeared in handwritten font, flying across the projected sky. The word recognition software didn’t pick up on the hum nor the stutter, a nice “thank you” now disappearing from sight. Nigel wanted to pretend it was meant for him.

They continued forward, relaxed, passing by the coils that sparked Adam’s interest. Nigel wasn’t sure if Adam’s job included something similar, it was all the same to him. The happiness on the other’s face gave him a warm feeling in his chest, and that was all that mattered.

Adam read out loud a piece of the text explaining that many of Pupin’s coils were still in use and they looked at the displayed map of the world, where the locations were pinpointed by small coils attached to it. They passed the rest of the exhibition without any strange surprises. There were a couple of augmented reality displays with cameras, and they had to stop for a while for Adam to admire a photo of Pupin with other founders of NACA, which later became NASA as he explained to Nigel. Sitting at a table, formally dressed, they looked larger than life in the photo that covered the entire wall from floor to ceiling. After that the displays and the story drew to the conclusion, as they neared the end of the exhibition.

Nigel nudged Adam into the dark room that was the last part, the exhibition exit marked at the end of the hallway. It was quiet and somewhat isolated from the rest of the gallery. On one side of the room there was a wooden bench, large enough for three people, that was suspended on a frame, like a swing set. The walls were bare, except for the faint flickering of stars projected on the one that the bench was facing. Nigel set down somewhere in the center of it. 

“Would you like to stargaze with me, Adam?” he teased the younger man. It was evident he was flirting, but fuck it, he was feeling bold after the pleasant evening. Adam’s lips slowly spread into a smile and he nodded, eyes fixed on Nigel’s shoes. 

“Yes”, he replied and remained standing at the entrance of the room. Nigel stared at him, waiting to be joined in the seat, then mentally kicked himself. Right, Asperger’s.

“Adam, sit down on the bench with me, darling.” He patted the free space on his right. The younger man shuffled to the bench and set down, leaving space between them. Nigel slid over into that space, enough to close the distance without their bodies touching. He wanted to be near, but he didn’t want to upset Adam, who was now focused on the stars projected for them to see. 

A frown appeared on his face when he realised that the stars presented no particular constellation, strewn around in no pattern. He pointed this out to Nigel, whose response was to swing them slightly forward. As the bench moved, the stars flickered, becoming larger, like they were nearing them. 

Adam stopped talking, confused, which caused Nigel to look at the stars as well. They moved with them, appearing to come towards as the bench swinged forward, moving back into the distance as it swung back. He laughed quietly and started swinging faster, playfully. Soon, more stars appeared, filling the entire wall and then stopping as a voice came from the speakers.

“When he was a child, Michael Pupin would gaze at the stars from his family home in the village of Idvor“, a pleasant voice announced from the speakers. Adam watched with a furrowed brow as the story continued, the stars forming into the inventor’s portrait over the time. He smiled, his face relaxing, when he realised the meaning behind the display. 

In the dimm light of the room, Nigel was transfixed on him, a single desire filling his mind, oblivious to the droning voice of the narrator. It was almost closing time and they were probably the only people left in the gallery. Not that Nigel cared if anyone saw. 

He leaned into Adam’s personal space, placed his fingers gently on his chin. As he turned the young man’s face towards him, blue eyes looked straight into his, then slowly trailed down, to his lips. The world seemed to stop for a moment. 

Adam’s face tilted forward, setting it back into motion.

Nigel Ibanescu closed the remaining distance and kissed Adam Raki with a soft touch of his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fiction I’ve wrote in years and the first one of this pairing. I’m sorry if they are a bit ooc or if I made some mistake.
> 
> As for the inspiration, this was an actual exhibition about the life and work of [Michael Pupin (Mihajlo Pupin)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihajlo_Pupin), held in Belgrade. It was opened in December of 2015 but due to large interest, it was extended twice, closing in December of 2016.


End file.
